WPP Merges B-M, C&W

Tue., Feb. 27, 2018

WPP chief Martin Sorrell today announced the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe to forge Burson Cohn & Wolfe and create "the scale to compete with the largest communications agencies in the world."

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Feb. 27, 2018, by Ronald N. Levy

Look at the honest modesty about "being able to compete with the largest communications agencies in the world." WPP already IS the largest yet Sorrell is empowering groups at each component firm to team up with a sometimes "world's greatest" specialist who will now be in the same component.

As with medical teams and orchestras, many great PR firms are teams that can do more than virtuosos. Even before Burson's merger with Cohn & Wolff, Burson already had teamwork between superstar PR result-achievers and one of the very best PR research departments for diagnosing what PR results NEED to be achieved. Often implicit in recognition of a problem is recognition of what needs to be done for urgently-needed success.

Not only clients but also agencies benefit from cooperating PR skill groups. When clients say "let's get the world's best people for this," billings for the very best PR teams can be well-earned yet awesome.

Feb. 27, 2018, by Bill Huey

Harold Burson once cracked in a speech that he wanted to merge with Marstellar--an ad agency--because the Association of American Advertising Agencies always held their annual meetings in swell places like the Greenbrier. Now the name has been conglommed, disappeared. At least they didn't call it "BC&W."